Top Republicans fear ‘costs of hostage diplomacy’ will increase after major prisoner swap with Russia
The top Republicans in the House and Senate raised alarm Thursday that the “costs of hostage diplomacy” will only increase in the aftermath of a major prisoner swap with Russia.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) issued the warning in a joint statement, which largely celebrated the deal between the US, Russia and several other nations that saw the release of journalist Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan, among other jailed Americans and Russian dissidents.
“The release of innocent Americans and Russian political prisoners from wrongful detention is encouraging news,” Johnson and McConnell wrote. “We eagerly await the return of Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Vladimir Kara-Murza to their homes and loved ones and will continue pressing for all Americans to be released.”
“Their unjust captivity will be an enduring reminder of the Russian government’s longstanding fear of free people and the free press,” the Republican leaders continued. “And the continued imprisonment of American citizens and innocent Russians is a damning indictment of Vladimir Putin’s hostility to the United States and his disdain for the rule of law.”
Johnson and McConnell then warned that the deal, which saw the release of a number of Russian convicts from US and foreign prisons, will hardly deter Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as Iran, from wrongfully jailing more Americans.
“Without serious action to deter further hostage-taking by Russia, Iran, and other states hostile to the United States, the costs of hostage diplomacy will continue to rise,” the top House and Senate Republicans argued.
“As we renew our call for the return of all persons wrongfully detained by the Kremlin, we recognize that trading hardened Russian criminals for innocent Americans does little to discourage Putin’s reprehensible behavior,” they concluded.
A total of 24 prisoners were exchanged in Thursday’s trade, which freed four Americans, five Germans and seven Russian citizens.
Gershkovich, a reporter with the Wall Street Journal, had been in Russian custody since March 2023, after being accused of espionage.
Whelan was arrested by Russian authorities in December 2018, also on espionage charges, and sentenced to 16 years in prison in June 2020.
Both have vehemently denied they were spying on Russia.
Meanwhile, eight prisoners detained in the West were sent back to Russia, including three from US prisons.
Prior to Johnson and McConnell’s statement, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump criticized US hostage diplomacy in a Truth Social post, arguing that “we never make good deals, at anything, but especially hostage swaps.”
Trump, 78, also fumed that US adversaries wrongfully jailing Americans are “extorting the United States of America.”
